Service King initiates national expansion plan

May 9, 2012—Service King Collision Repair Centers on Tuesday began its national expansion effort by acquiring Auto Body World Inc., an eight-shop collision repair operation based in Arizona.

The transaction will be finalized in July, Service King said. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Service King’s acquisition of Auto Body World came about three weeks after the company’s initial announcement April 17 regarding its search for a private investment firm to invest in the company to help fund a national expansion effort.

“We welcome our new teammates in Arizona to the Service King family. Service King is committed to continuing Auto Body World’s long tradition of excellent customer service and quality repairs with good relationships in the insurance industry,” said Chris Abraham, president of Service King. “We’re excited about the opportunity here. Arizona is special because it’s our first venture outside of Texas, but it’s not our last.”

Abraham said Service King will retain Auto Body World’s current employee base.

"We are very excited about Auto Body World joining the Service King team,” said Mark Turner, president of Auto Body World. “Both companies believe that we’re a great match for each other, in that we share very common cultures, and while Service King brings national insurance relationships and financial strength, Auto Body World brings dominance in a new market, with a strong operations team and platform for rapid growth.”

Service King, which was founded in 1976, currently operates 48 collision repair facilities throughout Texas. For more information, visit serviceking.com.